1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to information systems. More specifically, the invention relates to delivery of content to users located over networks.
2. Description of Related Art
What is commonly referred to as the xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d has become a fundamental information medium in today""s world. The Internet is a globally interconnected network of networks that provide an infrastructure for services such as FTP (File Transfer Protocol). The latter service HTTP has become the predominant form of information presentation and delivery on the World Wide Web (hereinafter the xe2x80x9cWebxe2x80x9d), a term used to describe the Internet as it relates to HTTP. The Web is a convenient form of information layout and delivery because in its raw form it is easy to use, decode, and display. The primary mechanism used to display Web content is an application known as a xe2x80x9cbrowser,xe2x80x9d such as the xe2x80x9cNavigator(trademark)xe2x80x9d (a product of Netscape Communications Corp.). The use of the web has become so prolific as a result of this ease that the number of Web sites (those Internet locations offering HTTP-based content) has increased beyond measure and grows at an ever-increasing pace.
Due to the myriad number of sites and pages of content offered, it is often difficult for a user to find content that is meaningful or useful. This sometimes occurs even if the appropriate web site is found, because that site may have so many pages of content, that finding a particular item of interest is time-consuming and/or difficult. This frustration has led to a number of technologies, primary of which are the xe2x80x9csearch enginexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cPushxe2x80x9d. The search engine is an indexing mechanism in which web sites are categorized, or their pages analyzed for keywords which are then poured into a master database. By searching on relevant keywords or accessing categories, a listing of web pages or web sites appears which the user can browse. The relevance of these listings to what the user is actually seeking to find is often questionable and depends upon many external factors, such as the organization of the web sites, the success of their submission and indexing into the particular search engine used (there are many different ones), and the appropriateness and database matching of the keyword or category selected. Where it is known that a content provider wishes to provide certain information, this content can be xe2x80x9cpushedxe2x80x9d to the user. One popular form of Push technologies is the delivery of advertisements (banner ads) to the unsuspecting user. Push technology is often intrusive and annoying and attempts to make it friendlier to the user have gone largely unsuccessful. There is a need for a better content delivery system, based upon the preferences of a user and capabilities of both provider and user, that delivers information useful and relevant to the user.
What is disclosed is a method that includes generating results, the results specifying which content from a provider is relevant to a user, and downloading content from the provider in accordance with the results.